Latest Fieldnotes

I feel a bit embarrassed about posting this site as rock art, as I feel it’s more of a settlement. It’s the lumpy outcroppy bit to the north of the village of Slockavullin. It’s got traces of circular structures, one of which was described to me by a local grockle as a ‘banked stone circle’. It might have been, it is an earthen bank, and it has stones in it, but it’s not very likely to be honest. I think they are more likely to have been grounding stones of a building, only one of them was standing, and then only to a height of about 80cms. I couldn’t help but wonder if the 18thC buildings which constitute the current village was built on top of a much older site, mostly for the same reasons, it’s flat, but no good for farming, but it has a good water source and is close to the good farming bits. If trees weren’t there, it would be a 20m walk to a point where you’d be able to see all of the monuments from Ballymeanoch to Glebe Cairn, and from the outcrop, you could easily throw a stone into the centre of Templewood.

Quite frankly, the rock art is a bit rubbish. In retrospect, I wasted far too much time here (probably in excess of 15 hours over the space of a week) that could have been much better spent further uphill around Loch Michean.

Visited August 2006

The scanty details on RCAHMS can be found here .

We visited these two as part of an abortive attempt to see if we could get to Ormaigwith the kids in tow. Didn’t get to Ormaig, but it was still worth the walk, goodly sized, stately stones, and a nice view.

From the look of things, it could be a bit of a faff to get here from the castle car park. The ‘pasture’ field that you have to cross is no longer pasture, and I couldn’t see a gate anywhere. The path that leads up from the south was no bother at all.

Visited August 2006

Quite overgrown in summer. Some of the stones were hard to spot. However, as this is due to the fence protecting it from cattle, It’d be churlish to complain too vociferously.

One of the stones (the westernmost one I think) has a peculiar feature that at first I was tempted to see as part of an artificial chevron pattern similar to that once found at Carn Bàn in Kilmartin. Upon reflection, I concluded that it’s natural, though of course I’d like to think I’m wrong.

This circle seems to have once been the focal monument in the area, being on the natural route across the island, and hence from Southern Scotland over to Kintyre and the isles. The single stone at East Colmac allegedly forms the central point between this circle and the point at which the sun rises on the summer solstice. There’s an enigmatic earthwork, of prehistoric origin, but uncertain nature, as well as the numerous cup marked stones in the area. Ettrick Burn alone boasts 12 separate marked stones.

Visited August 2006

Passed this small stone without getting a decent photo, but it looked like the thing described by RCAHMS as 1.6M tall, leaning over. Apparently older maps showed a second stone at the same spot. Given it’s proximity to the circle at Ettrick Bay, it’s tempting to wonder if this stone has some sort of alignment to the circle in the same way as the nearby stone at East Colmac

Almost visited August 2006

This single stone can be considered an outlier for Ettrick Bay circle, as apparently in conjunction with the circle, it forms an alignment for Summer Solstice sunrise. It was once thought to be part of a circle of its very own, but this idea seems to have fallen out of favour as there is no evidence for other stones.

I didn’t tromp through the crop, and had to content myself to a view through a zoom lens from the edge of the field.

Visited August 2006

I can confirm Merrick’s observation about wheelchair access, the right hand fork also has a better surface.

I’d also agree with the comments below about the strange ambience induced by the cairn’s peculiar combination of ruinous state and Heritage manicure.

The largest stone has some interesting natural features, reminiscent of cup marks, but also hinting at fossilised mussel shells. I’d like to think these marks had something to do with this particular stone being chosen for inclusion into the body of the cairn.

A nocturnal visit produced no evidence of the ‘shadowy phantoms’ mentioned below.

Visited August 2006

It’s a lucky stone to have survived the building of the Castle, as we were told that in creating the castle grounds, the Laird in those days destroyed a whole village that was in the way. Presumably megaliths were considered to be fashionable for statey homes at the time, I’ve seen ones elsewhere get physically lifted to act as posh garden ornaments.

Nowadays, it sits as a spectator to the footy played on the pitch it’s only a couple of feet away from. The proximity to the goalposts and a picnic table makes it seem more than a tad incongruous. But kinda nice at the same time.

Visited August 2006

I spent a cold frosty morning in Goathland watching the Plough Stots perform their annual sword dance around the village, with half a day to kill I decided to follow my nose south into the Tabular Hills.
The Tabular Hills occupy the southern end of the North York Moors, geologically they are formed of layers of Jurrassic limestone. In prehistory, as today, these hills were rich farmland and a marked contrast to the wide open heather expanse and thin soils of the northern moors.
I travelled from Goathland south along the Pickering road. Once past the menacing structure of the Fylingdales military base the road climbs up through Saltergate and past it’s famous pub where the peat fire that has burned continuously since 1759 trapping the malevolent spirit of a murdered excise man. From Slatergate the road runs around the edge of the Hole of Horcum, a huge natural bowl that legend tells us was created by either the Devil or Wade the Giant. A few miles along this road is the Dalby Forest drive. This is a toll road operated by the Forestry Commission and is very popular with hikers, bikers and all sorts of outdoor pursuit types. The road leads you into the Dalby Forest, a huge area of managed woodland, rich in archaeology. Being a good yorkshireman I only ever drive along this road in the wintertime when access is free.
A couple of miles along the road brings you to the Bridestones car park. The path to the stones is signposted. Once through the gate I recommend you take the left hand of the three paths, this will take along the edge of the woods and then slowly up to the moor top. As you climb from the valley floor you can see the Bridestones standing like sentinels, lining the ridge to the east of you. The moor here has a primeval vibe about it and seeing the stones looking down on you gives you some idea as to how the people who first named these stones may have felt, the mysteriousness of this place would not have been lost on our ancestors. The stones outcrop on either side of a narrow valley, the eastern stones have a monumental vibe around them, the rock overhangs of the western stones may have provided plenty of opportunity for shelter and perhaps a place to observe game moving along Dovedale Griff below.
If you in the area it is well worth having a look at the Bridestones. The walk from the car park will take you about 15 minutes. The gated track is quite steep in places and there are quite a few steps on the way to and from the stones.
If you are feeling energetic you could park at the Hole of Horcum and make a day of it taking in the Old Wife’s Way, Blakey Topping and its standing stones and the Bridestones.

Waitby Castle sits on the brow of a hill overlooking the disused railway to the North East, and Waitby and Smardale to the West. The earthworks are hidden from view as you’re driving down the road below, and are only visible once you’ve ‘trespassed’ through three fields and ‘hopped’ over a few walls.

Once your there, the ‘castle’ is an oval hill top enclosure, with the distinct earthwork remains of up to five enclosures within the confines of the ditches and ramparts. I understand that the earthworks are a Romano-British settlement, and as such represent the remains of a medium size encampment. There are good views to be had from the summit of the hill....good defensive qualities!!!

My biggest gripe about this site, is that the farmer seems to have made a habit of driving some sort of vehicle through the middle of the earthworks, thus creating a permanent scar right through the middle. It’s a shame that more protection isn’t afforded to this type of earthwork!!!

Driving through the hills north of Kealkill, you could forget that your on the way to visit one fo the few excavated and restored stone rows in the south west, the scenery is incredible. Just as you pass a peacefull little lake in a natural amphitheatre you come to a small cross roads. Maughanasilly stone row is on the hillock to the right, overlooking the lake. The name mey be ridiculous but this is a seriously wonderful place. A small space just outside the gate is handy for parking and the site has a little, informative sign just inside the swinging gate. Visitors are welcome here and the site is very easy to access, though not for the disabled.

I arrived here just as the sun was re-appearing for a few minutes of glorious colour before sinking below the horizon, there are wide views across wild mountains to the north and west but no view to the east. To me, it looked like this row is very closely aligned to the sunset at midwinter, the sign suggests a lunar alignment.

The stones that remain standing are all similar but look bizarrely mismatched or arranged, they are all quite small, none above 1.5m. One lies prostrate on the south side but there doesn’t seem to be a gap for its socket, as if it had missed out on megalithic musical chairs.

I forgot to print off the directions below and made a complete yak of getting to the stones. I parked in a driveway and knocked on the door, there was noise inside but no-one answered. This is getting more common in the depths of rural Ireland. Anyway, I walked up a lane and then along the side of a small stream into another field. I then crossed a hedge and up in the corner I had to scale a wall at an open gate. At first glance over, there seemed to be no way in or out of the field but once you are near the stones you realise there are a  few gaps on the southern hedge.

The stones themselves? Wonderful! One massive, bulky hulk and two skinnier but still quite large accomplices. Like the big boss man and his two cronies. The setting is again spectacular, this is stunning countryside. The stones dont seem to have ever formed a rectangle, it must have been quite askew when complete (if there was a fourth stone) in much the same was as the comparable, but slightly less dramatic, arrangement at Lettergorman.

The weather continues to oscillate though many dramatic shifts, it rained quite a bit which meant constant wiping of the lens for the brief burst of sunshine that produced a magnificent rainbow.

As you drive up the road thats nearest to Dunbeacon stone circle, you see a brown information sign with ‘Standing Stones’ on it, pointing to this field. The driveway also has a ‘Parking’ sign there too! This is a nice pair of tall stones pointing (almost) at the stone circle on the hill opposite. They were felled but re-erected in the past so may not exactly align with their original axis. A large new house has been built just above them, perhaps this was the site of the church mentioned in TME? Access is very easy with a short walk up a driveway and then through a specially installed gate.

It’s HUGE!!!!

But.....is it a long barrow????? We had just spent the morning at an archaeology conference in Penrith and had been told in no uncertain terms that there aren’t any long barrows in Cumbria. As we had spotted this site on a previous outing last year (as we were on the road to Moor Divock from the Clifton stones) and had promised ourselves a return trip, we felt that today was the day. Could we prove the archaeo bod wrong?

As Dom quite rightly pointed out, its situation is perfect for a LB, on a slight rise and highly visible from all directions. But....if it really is a LB then it should be famous and have a visitor centre because it is absolutely massive!!

We went into the field alongside it and it must measure at least 100m. It ticks most of the boxes but it just seems impossible that such a huge structure could’ve gone un-noticed by so many folks for so long.

So, maybe that guy from Cumbria Archaeology unit was right and there aren’t any LBs in Cumbria afterall?

These feint enclosures and possible hut circles lay to the West of the road that runs alongside the B6255 between Ingleton and Chapel-le-Dale. The road follows the route of the River Doe. The fells to both the East and the West of the road are dotted with small enclosures and hut circles, and some well defined settlements on the Western flanks of Ingleborough.

These enclosures took a long time to find....there’s plenty of lime stone scatter, and the enclosures themselves are loose and weathered....but there none the less.

Yarlsber camp sits at the foot of Ingleborough, sandwiched between Easegill force and the B6480 to Clapham.

The site is thought to be an Iron Age defended enclosure. It covers about an acre and a half, and is surrounded by earthworks. At the lower end of the site, the earthworks are worn and low, whilst at the top, they are very well defined and up to a foot high. The defences at the top of the site are also double ditched with shallow ramparts…possibly with the remains of entrances.

The site has been excavated and investigated, but no signs of habitation were found within the earthworks.

It’s on private property and also off the footpath that runs parallel to it about a hundred yards away.

I was inspired to check this out by Martin’s posts, and visitied the carving on 14/01/07. A bit tricky to get to (in a gale), but once there I was rewarded with a seriously smooth little seat in the entrance to the little cave. It must have taken a lot of sitting to get it that smooth – this spot was once used a hell of a lot. The carving is pretty nifty, although I’d say I was more taken by the seat.

About two miles to the West of Kirkby Lonsdale, and about a quarter of a mile off the A65, lay the remains of a large Romano, British settlement. Easily accessible from the nearby road, the public footpath runs right alongside the remains, affording good views right around the earthworks that survive today.

As you approach the remains from the nearby road, the earthen bank that encircles the settlement can be clearly seen. It consists of a bank that runs nearly the full circumference of the settlement, that is, in some places, around a foot high. At one point, for about ten metres, the bank is topped with limestone boulders, possibly original. In the centre of the remains, more earthen banks can clearly be seen, possibly marking the remains of buildings and further enclosures.

The site is well protected. It sits at the highest point for a few miles around, with flat land to the South. To the East and North, the settlement is protected by natural limestone escarpments, and to the West, the land drops away. It’s easy to see why this spot must have been chosen as a place to settle.

All in all a great site to visit, and readily accessible from the nearby road.

Travelling West on the A590, and taking the turning to Levens onto the A6, will take you right past the intriguing earthworks at Levens Brow.

The remains of this site lay on the left hand side of the road, at the peak of a small hill now crowned with a single hawthorne tree.

There has been some confusion in the past as to whether or not the earthworks were of any archeological value, with some commentators saying that they were nothing more than the remains of recent gravel quarry. However, human remains have been found in the area, along with lithic scatter, the remains of worked flints for example, and it’s now thought likely that the site’s builders merely took advantage of a naturally occuring glacial deposit mound.

The site is a nicely formed scooped enclosure, comprising of an earthen bank which runs nearly the full circumference of the top of the mound and stands to a height of around a foot in places, and the remains of a possible ditch to the East of the earthworks. There’s no doubt that the site has been damaged by recent attention, specifically in its use as a deposit for household waste!

A nearby glacial morain was found to contain a human burial, and field walks done in nearby fields, turned up axe heads and other flint tools. It’s therefore quite likely that the whole area, extending right down the lands now occupied by Levens Hall, were active well before the medieval hall was built.

It is nearly impossible to gain access to this site, due to the lack of gates on the East side of the road, and the high hedges growing on high field banks. A little scrambling is therefore required to access this area.......but don’t get caught!

This site is allegedly a Neolithic Long cairn or Barrow. It is easily accessable just off the A6 about two miles South of Clifton. The site is around a 100 metres long and ranges from around 12 to 25 metres wide. At its highest point, I would say it is nearly 4 metres high at its highest point. The barrow runs parallel with the road to Newtown on a West East axis.

Documentation on the net states that it was first ‘noticed’ in around 1933, and investigated in 1938, when it was identified as a burial cairn. There seems to be some argument that this is little more than a spoil heap, perhaps from the building of the A6 or the M6.

It’s strange to note that a map of 1863 makes no mention of the barrow.

It’s quite an impressive site, easily visible in the surrounding landscape....and certainly not alone....there are numerous other sites within easy reach.

Driving North out of Carmarthen on the A485,upon reaching Peniel take your first left turn even though it seems to enter a housing estate ,but keep going and you’ll come out t’other end, park in one of two passing places (you’ll be ok for 5minutes).Where there’s no wall or fence enter the trees and go through to the field ,head downhill to the small wood and whilst wading through a small stream(only inches deep) bend low under wire fence over the gate 20yds away and there’s the stone.
Triangular in shape ,about five to six feet tall and close to a small river(Nant Felys) nice place .
If the directions seem a bit like tresspassing it’s because we are, they are easier to follow than they seem.

My daughter and I visited this stone for no other reason than no-one else had ,luckily for us it was a tall and impressive menhir with a good view to the West.
Just south of the hamlet of Cloigyn is a small layby park here and 150yds back up the road is a gate, jump over and go uphill, head for a weirdly shaped tree stump and in the next field is this 12ft standing stone ,it’s always a pleasure to find such a good one when you don’t know what to expect.

I’ve been debating with myself for a long time about whether or not to include this site. These aren’t even really field notes, since they’re being written in my living-room, months after my last visit there. If an Englishman’s home is his castle, does that make an Irishman’s sitting-room his field?

Burl, sounding almost bitter in his guide entry, gives it a special category, namely ‘unseeable’, and discourages any visit not involved with official clearance. Ruggles in his orientation tables at the rear of ‘Astronomy in Prehistoric Britain and Ireland’ (1999; 217), mentions the immovable vegetation that made accurate survey impossible. The monument is almost drowned in a wash of turbulent growth. Yet it has not always been this way.

I have posted Somerville’s plan from the beginning of the 20th century. A print of Webster’s sketch of 1930 hangs on my wall, the circle open and clear. As long as I have been interested in the past, this site has fascinated, or rather, obsessed me.

It sits on a slight rise at the north side of a tidy little field. Carrigfadda looms to the west. The ground is open to the south and on a sunny day you can almost feed on the glow and brightness in the air. Rabbits make surprised darts across in front of you and the only sounds are earfuls and earfuls of natural life.

A quick glance at O’Nuallain’s 1984 plan will give you an idea of the shape of the monument: partially used as a fence on the western side, it is 8.5 metres in diameter, reckoned to have contained 19 stones up to 1.1 metres high, with a 70cm high and 1.4 metre wide axial stone.

The plans diverge over two facts. O’Nuallain shows the detached radial portals, strangely missed by Somerville. On the other hand the one foot high centre stone shown and described by Somerville and Webster was either missing or concealed when O’Nuallain’s survey took place.

I have poked through here myself at winter time when things die back a bit and experienced a kind of euphoria as portals and circle stones are revealed. It must be tied with its being hidden, yet being there, its sparkling location, the character and perfect size of its pillars, my immersion in its history and forbidden reputation and perhaps a multitude of other things. It’s difficult to exactly put a finger on why it should but I know that this place affects me more than any other.

Access is over a gate with some dire warnings about unauthorised entry, but the farm is just down the road to the south if you want to give it a go and ask.

I’ve wanted to visit this row since I saw RedBrickDream’s photos here a year ago or more. The setting and the arrangement is just superlative, hats off to whoever chose this spot and picked the stones, they really had a very good eye.

The row is peculiar, in a funny kind of way it reminds me of those cartoons you see of the mother duck leading the ugly ducklings across the road. Its a little overgrown now since the older photos, whatever lived in this field must have ate that typical rush-like grass. The sheep that live here now sure dont. Someone also left one of those horrible large black plastic sheets that they cover bales with, lumped between the last, smallest stone and the second last. I tried removing it but that, and the massive digger a hundred yards away took away a little of the magic of the visit, just a little bit.

As in the other fieldnotes, this is a bugger to get to, the driveway past the old farmhouse is now a swimming pool and all the fields are serioulsy boggy. Bring wellies when you come, but do come.

Croglam Castle is one of those strange sites....everyone tells you how great it is, how well defined it is....but when you get there, you can’t help feel a little disappointed. Whilst the walk to the summit is great, the fort itself hasn’t stood the test of time very well, and any earthworks are well worn and built on. Worth a visit if not just for the views.

Not readily identifiable as a hill fort, although it’s clearly marked as such on many maps. The summit of the fort is slightly scooped and there’s a trig point situated up there. Apparently there are small holes in the lime stone at the foot of the earthworks each side of the summit, allegedly to collect rainwater, although these weren’t visible at my last visit. It’s clear to see why this would have been chosen as the site for a fort. You get good clear views in all directions, with a good water supply about four hundred yards down in the valley.